Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida on 37 counts, including violation of the Espionage Act (which addresses intentional retention of national defense information), after he took classified documents to his private Florida residence when he left the White House.
Trump was also indicted in March by a Manhattan grand jury for a sex scandal cover-up, but the most recent case is the first time that a former U.S. president has been prosecuted for violating federal law.
The classified documents contain information about matters such as U.S. nuclear plans, potential “vulnerabilities” of the U.S. and allied nations’ military plans and retaliation plans in case of attack from other countries.
If the charges in the indictment are proven, then this could be a very grave matter that will have serious national security consequences for the U.S., of course, but also for its allies, Japan being the first among them. The relevant judicial authorities have a responsibility to thoroughly investigate the truth of the matter.
According to the indictment, Trump showed a map of U.S. military strategy in a foreign country to a representative of a U.S. political group who was not cleared to view classified material, and he also showed foreign attack plans drawn up by the Department of Defense to reporters who were doing research.
He directed his team of lawyers to lie to the Department of Justice and say that he did not have the classified documents.
Trump blasted the indictments as “horrific abuses of power” by President Joe Biden’s administration. He has disclosed to the American press that even if he is found guilty, he has no plans to withdraw from next year’s presidential election.
Trump continues to claim that there was “cheating in the 2020 election” with no clear evidence and has damaged trust in the electoral system. Even now, he has arbitrarily decided that this series of indictments is a plot by his political enemies, and his repetitive messages seem to be instilling a distrust of the U.S. legal system among his base of supporters.
It must be said that these acts, for someone who at one time was the U.S. head of state and who aims to regain that role, are extremely irresponsible.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, and China strengthens its hegemonic moves, the U.S. president must have the ability to lead the powers of democracy in standing against despotic powers such as Russia and China.
In the meantime, authorities are finding classified documents in the homes of other important government officials. In order to prevent Trump’s indictment from appearing to be a national policy investigation, an impartial investigation into Biden and others should proceed.
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